Haute 100 Update: Ralph Lauren Takes Over the NY Times and Your iPad for September

For the entire month of September, Ralph Lauren will be completely taking over the New York Times’ iPad app. As the app’s sole advertiser, the branded overhaul will feature a highly interactive experience of the label, including live streaming of the Ralph Lauren Fashion Week presentation and other exclusive highlights.

“Typically, we have six advertisers per month,” said a spokeswoman for the Times, noting that Ralph Lauren is the first brand ever to buy out the entire availability of ad space.

Other features for the takeover include an enhanced video and a virtual tour of the designer’s famous car collection, featured in Haute Living and currently on exhibit in Paris. An added feature allows for users to click on individual cars to hear its engine sound.

“Ralph Lauren was the first advertiser to really do major 24-page ‘story’ advertisements in The New York Times Magazine,” said David Lauren, executive VP of advertising, marketing, and corporate communications at Polo Ralph Lauren and son of the company’s founder. “My dad would run these big cinematic advertisements about safaris or the American West, and it helped to define the brand. Years later again our company took on 52 pages — basically page 5 of Sunday Styles every weekend. That’s become part of the new way of reaching our customer. The question was what we could do as we enter the digital age.”

The campaign will also feature past runway shows, custom editorial content, and e-commerce – all combining for a significant thrust into the digital world for the iconic label.

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